Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 25
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    Modelling the spread of brain tumours
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2015) Swan, Amanda; Murtha, Albert
    The study of mathematical biology attempts to use mathematical models to draw useful conclusions about biological systems. Here, we consider the modelling of brain tumour spread with the ultimate goal of improving treatment outcomes.
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    The adaptive finite element method
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2016) Gallistl, Dietmar
    Computer simulations of many physical phenomena rely on approximations by models with a finite number of unknowns. The number of these parameters determines the computational effort needed for the simulation. On the other hand, a larger number of unknowns can improve the precision of the simulation. The adaptive finite element method (AFEM) is an algorithm for optimizing the choice of parameters so accurate simulation results can be obtained with as little computational effort as possible.
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    Drugs, herbicides, and numerical simulation
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2014) Benner, Peter; Mena, Hermann; Schneider, René
    The Colombian government sprays coca fields with herbicides in an effort to reduce drug production. Spray drifts at the Ecuador-Colombia border became an international issue. We developed a mathematical model for the herbicide aerial spray drift, enabling simulations of the phenomenon.
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    The mystery of sleeping sickness – why does it keep waking up?
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2015) Funk, Sebastian
    Sleeping sickness is a neglected tropical disease that affects rural populations in Africa. Deadly when untreated, it is being targeted for elimination through case finding and treatment. Yet, fundamental questions about its transmission cycle remain unanswered. One of them is whether transmission is limited to humans, or whether other species play a role in maintaining circulation of the disease. In this snapshot, we introduce a mathematical model for the spread of Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite responsible for causing sleeping sickness, and present some results based on data collected in Cameroon. Understanding how important animals are in harbouring Trypanosoma brucei that can infect humans is important for assessing whether the disease could be reintroduced in human populations even after all infected people have been successfully treated.
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    High performance computing on smartphones
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2016) Patera, Anthony T.; Urban, Karsten
    Nowadays there is a strong demand to simulate even real-world engineering problems on small computing devices with very limited capacity, such as a smartphone. We explain, using a concrete example, how we can obtain a reduction in complexity – to enable such computations – using mathematical methods.
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    Mathematics plays a key role in scientific computing
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2017) Shu, Chi-Wang
    I attended a very interesting workshop at the research center MFO in Oberwolfach on “Recent Developments in the Numerics of Nonlinear Hyperbolic Conservation Laws”. The title sounds a bit technical, but in plain language we could say: The theme is to survey recent research concerning how mathematics is used to study numerical algorithms involving a special class of equations. These equations arise from computer simulations to solve application problems including those in aerospace engineering, automobile design, and electromagnetic waves in communications as examples. This topic belongs to the general research area called “scientific computing”.
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    Molecular Quantum Dynamics
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2017) Hagedorn, George A.; Lasser, Caroline
    We provide a brief introduction to some basic ideas of Molecular Quantum Dynamics. We discuss the scope, strengths and main applications of this field of science. Finally, we also mention open problems of current interest in this exciting subject.
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    Modeling communication and movement: from cells to animals and humans
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2015) Eftimie, Raluca
    Communication forms the basis of biological interactions. While the use of a single communication mechanism (for example visual communication) by a species is quite well understood, in nature the majority of species communicate via multiple mechanisms. Here, I review some mathematical results on the unexpected behaviors that can be observed in biological aggregations where individuals interact with each other via multiple communication mechanisms.
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    Chaos and chaotic fluid mixing
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2015) Solomon, Tom
    Very simple mathematical equations can give rise to surprisingly complicated, chaotic dynamics, with behavior that is sensitive to small deviations in the initial conditions. We illustrate this with a single recurrence equation that can be easily simulated, and with mixing in simple fluid flows.
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    Analogue mathematical instruments: Examples from the “theoretical dynamics” group (France, 1948–1964)
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2019) Petitgirard, Loïc
    Throughout the history of dynamical systems, instruments have been used to calculate and visualize (approximate) solutions of differential equations. Here we describe the approach of a group of physicists and engineers in the period 1948–1964, and we give examples of the specific (analogue) mathematical instruments they conceived and used. These examples also illustrate how their analogue culture and practices faced the advent of the digital computer, which appeared at that time as a new instrument, full of promises.